Fireplace Flip

Hi everyone!

How is this summer going? I do not know how it is where you live, but here we are having an incredible heat. When we moved into the new house last May, what I liked most was the amount of light it had and that it was well oriented … until the heat came.

The facade faces south, and on that facade we have the entrance of the house, the living room, and four bedrooms (two above and two below). The only thing that gets rid of the sun is the kitchen, which is cooler especially if we open the terrace door.

The point is, from the sunrise until nearly three o’clock the sun comes into half of the room.

Salón y tuneo de la chimenea

As the sun revolves still have plenty of light but at least no direct sun shines.

Salón y tuneo de la chimenea

What we do is to leave the windows open at night to let fresh air come in, and close them to the first rays of the sun. We also have to close the shutters outside.

I decided it was about time to lighten the house so it could feel fresher, and I decided to get rid of so much brown.  I found the coffee table curbside and it waits patiently for its makeover, as well as the table we have right behind the couch. I wanted a quick project and the fireplace was the victim.

Salón y tuneo de la chimenea

This is going to be a two-part project. The first and easier one is this, paint the bricks. What I am going to do with the upper part will be part of another blog post.

I want to make it clear that I have nothing against the wooden furniture in its natural color; my house has been decorated in colonial style for many years, and the cabinet with marquetry which we use as TV stand would never be painted. Tastes change and now I prefer light-colored furniture and have unique pieces in its natural color.

Back to the subject, the first thing was to mask the cassette to prevent it from painting. Then I used my DIY chalk paint thinned with just a bit of water to make it runnier.

Salón y tuneo de la chimenea

I did the same with the bricks. As I didn’t liked the gray-ish color it had, I gave it another coat but this time less diluted.

Salón y tuneo de la chimenea

It was done in less than an hour!

Salón y tuneo de la chimenea

I still have to work in the top of the fireplace and once it is done, the next thing will be making some new curtains. The curent ones came from my previous home and they fit so well there. I bought a big piece of fabric from Ribes y Casals for  9€, and I did the two curtains anf four cushions… that’s the best part of DIY, decor in a budget!!

Salón y tuneo de la chimenea

I hope you enjoy my fireplace (half) makeover and don’t hate my for painting it 😉 Stay tunned for the final reveal!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Pili

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This entry was posted in DIY.

18 comments

  1. Keri says:

    Pili, the fireplace looks great now! I would have painted it too. I really want to paint the stone on the outside of our house. I can’t wait to see what you do with the upper half of the fireplace. Btw, your living room looks beautiful!!

    • Pili says:

      I couldn’t stand it more that way. Do you know the feeling that you are choking because there is too much stuff around? I was feeling the same here, now I can breathe 🙂

  2. Michelle says:

    It’s amazing, the room looks so much lighter and bigger after you painted the fireplace Pili. Looking forward to the second installment.

  3. Katrin says:

    That made a huge difference Pili! I’m going to ask our landlord if I can paint ours, it’s just too dark! Thanks for the inspiration!!! Your fireplace looks lovely now!!

  4. JaneEllen says:

    Isn’t it great to have your own house so you can paint something however and whenever you want to. Your fireplace looks so different, really brightened room, made look bigger. You have very nice living room, love your curtains and matching pillows. Look forward to seeing 2nd. installment of fireplace, have fun and enjoy it.

    • Pili says:

      The house was not ours, we were renting but the owners allowed us to make changes to make it better. I agree it looks brighter now,
      We had the curtains from the previous house and they still match our decor in this one, so I made the pillows with some scrap fabric I had from them

  5. Mary-the boondocks blog says:

    Pili this is beautiful I really have nothing against painting furniture or anything at all as long as it can be improved or the owner likes it. I love the new look of the fireplace and am excited to see what you’ll do to the top. I have to admit that you are giving me ideas because I also have that dark ugly brick on my fireplace. Pili, is your fireplace a functioning one, will you be lighting it in the winter? We light ours in the winter and I was wondering if the paint would be affected by it. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Your living room is coming along nicely and I can just imagine how pretty it will be when you paint the tables. The curtains are very pretty too.

    • Pili says:

      Mary we have not spend a winter here yet but from the amount of dust I took out of the fireplace I can guess it works. Regarding to how well it will keep the paint, I am afraid I will have to wait to test it but I keep my fingers crossed!

  6. Bonnie A. says:

    why not hang a solar shade…easier than having to close shutters out side. They keep the heat out and plenty of light to see by.

    • Pili says:

      Yes, that could be an option I have not thought about because I have never used them. Do you know if they prevent from the heat too? Because the sun will hit the glass and the shade, and the glass ends up quite hot…

      • Bonnie A. says:

        Yes …the shade helps with keeping the heat out…you will definitely notice a difference.The heat stays on the other side of the shade. What I like about the shade also is you can see out …can’t see in…an added bonus.

  7. ana@carpe_diem says:

    Hi, Pili! I love dark wood, your floor, for example, but sometimes too much dark is just- too much
    Love the way you have freshen up your fireplace! It suits stones above much better now.

    • Pili says:

      Hi Anna! I used to love and have dark wood all over my home, but now I need a break. Everything’s reversible so who knows what I would like in some years?

    • Pili says:

      I was thinking about it for a while but that hot day helped me to decide lol. Glad you like it, I hope I can share part 2 soon

  8. Leanna says:

    I think you living room looks super cozy and inviting. The room is definitely brightened up with the fireplace, but those cute little stools with matching cushions really caught my eye.

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